I cant afford to send my child to headstart is there a web sight that I can use to teach him on my own.?

Question

I cant afford to send my child to headstart is there a web sight that I can use to teach him on my own.?

Answer 1

First of all, congrats on being a good mommy!  There are entirely too many people in the world who don't care about their children's education.

You don't necessarily need a strict curriculum to teach your son.  Read to him.  A lot.  If you can't buy him books, just get a library card and make a weekly trip.  Show him the letters and the sounds that they make.  Take walks with him and show him whatever you may know about birds, animals, plants, or even passing cars.  Play games with him.  Get him active.  Take him to a pet store or a petting zoo and teach him how to be gentle with the animals.  Everyday events can easily be turned into learning opportunities.  This is what I did with my son, and now at 3 years old he is starting to read small words, has excellent manners, counts to 20, and for the most part knows the difference between right and wrong.  You're not going to be able to teach him everything - but neither would a headstart program.  But you can help him a LOT in life by just being involved.

Good luck!

Answer 2

first of all headstart is a FREE federally funded preschool program for children 3-5 yrs old.....the program was designed for low income or otherwise disadvantaged children and families...but does have spaces for children from all income levels(i worked for the program for 8 1/2 yrs----and even had the child of a lawyer and a child whose parents were both in the military)......but in each program there are only a limited number of spaces (usually each classroom has from 12-20 spaces)......if your child is younger than 3 there is also a program called early headstart....and some programs offer a variety of full and half days for working parents....

to educate your child on your own, you need only love and encourage them in the tasks you set up...please do not PUSH them into tasks far ahead of their age and maturity level ( in other words a 2-3 year old does not need to be able to read or do math problems) the best places to start are reading together a few times per day and encouraging them to "read" too.....and encouraging them to share their toys, time, and other acitvities......and a very limited time sitting at a table or doing "table work"......try some of the following sites......www.starfall.com....www.perpe... others also mentioned here.....

and you may even take a few mommy and me classes or try some of the classes offered at your local communitiy colleges to help you get some more ideas

Answer 3

I assume that you are earning too much money to qualify for Headstart.  Check with your local school district.  Some districts have 3 and 4-year old pre-school programs for at risk students...students who have physical or intellectual learning problems.  Florida also has a voluntary pre-k program for 4 year olds that is free to everyone. I don't know if other states have a program like this or not, but it would be worth checking into by calling your local school district.

To teach him on your own, read to him every day and discuss the story with him ask if he knows what happened first, next, last, who the characters were, etc.  Point to the words as you read so he can see (it helps him learn that words convey meaning) .  Use environmental print to teach him his letters---McDonald's and other signs, cereal boxes, magazines...anything with print.

Counting (1-10) can be done using anything in the house...count magazines, forks, towels, flowers, anything!

You can use your knives, forks, and spoons to teach patterning.  

Make sure he has crayons, markers, scissors, pencils, and plenty of plain paper to draw and write on (coloring books are okay once in a while, don't worry about workbooks at this age).  Teach him to write his first name using a capital letter for the first letter and the rest lower case letters.  Teach him his phone number, address, birthday, and your given name. Teach him the names of the colors (only need the 8 basic colors).

If you can get him into a playgroup (or can afford day care for one or two days a week) for socialization that would be very helpful.  A lot of Head Start is socialization...learning to take turns and getting along with others. Make sure that he is okay with you leaving and doesn't have tantrums or try to run after you when you leave him.  Make sure he can dress himself and knows how to go potty by himself and that his clothes are easy for him to undo and do up again.

TV:  not a lot, but NogginJr. is very good, Sesame Street, Dora, etc.

Answer 4

I agree with JustMe. Depending on the county and state you live in you should be able to qualify for free. If that doesn't work just search the web "free pre-school learning" and you will find many sites to use. You can also go to BestBuy and find many programs under 10.00 that you can load on to your computer that will teach everything from ABC's to counting to reading. I have used the site PBSkids.org for my 5 yr old. Also many places like Wal-mart and Family Dollar and Dollar General have these workbooks for less than 3.00 that you can use.

You can also use the following:

http://www.kidsites.org/search/preschool...

http://www.oppl.org/kidlinks/games2_5.ht...

http://www.computerlearning.org/WebLinks...

These are just a few examples.

Good luck and have fun teaching your child. I never sent any of my kids to head-start and 2 of them are straight A students in programs for the gifted.

Answer 5

Head Start is a free program for families that fall within certain guidelines Call your local one and see if you are eligible. Under certain circumstances they can take families that are over the guidelines if there are other issues. Also, check and see if your school district has a free pre-k program.

Answer 6

Head Start is designed to provide a learning environment to pre-school kids from low-income families. It seems like it's made for people who can't afford private pre-schooling. They probably do need to raise the income requirement to let more people have access to it.

You can of course do your own teaching. Most head start activities are things almost anyone can do; like singing, learning the ABCs, reading, basic math, art, etc. You can also buy pre-school software that has a variety of activities for them to do.

The only things that are difficult to duplicate is the interaction with the other children and learning how to behave while at school.

Answer 7

Most states offer a tuition help for lower income families. That is what headstart is for, I didn't even know anyone had to pay! If your child is 3+ then most school systems offer preschool you can check with your local district to see if they allow non special ed students in and if so what is the process to get your child in, those I know are free.

Answer 8

You should be able to get funding from the state...check w/ your county child welfare office..

Answer 9

try these websites, hope they help:

www.learningco.com

www.teachingstrategies.com/search2.cfm... - 39k

www.theteachingroom.com

www.wondertime.go.com/create-and-play

www.huggieshappybaby.com/info/bow/arti...

www.toddlerstart.com

www.babybumblebee.com

hope u find what u need.

Answer 10

Read 30-40 minutes to your child daily.  Break it up into 2   20 minute sessions if he won't sit still that long.  

Go to the public library and get out like 20 books at a time, ask the librarian for advice on book selection, and read read read.

And toss out your television set.

The reason kids in general, and black kids in particular, have a hard time in school is due to not being read to at home.  I know, I know, I'm white and I didn't read to 2 of my kids when they were young.  I'm just as guilty.  But I am telling you straight up that black culture puts down education, it would seem (listen to those stupid rap songs),  plus you have the distractioin of tv and computer games.  It all siphons away time that could be spent reading.  And i had no tv going in my house, in fact, I haven't had a tv in 20 years and we all read at home because it is boring around here (on purpose) so if you want a good time you have to read.

Reading is so so important because if a kid cannot read well, he will not do well in school.  If he doesn't do well in school, he won't be as employable, or at least not as anything besides a sanitation worker or ditch digger.

What aspirations do you have for your kid?

Look at Asian families.  There's another stereotype,  I know, but those kids WORK HARD.  Why do they work hard?  Because their parents insist on it.

So, read to your child.

Also, get him started reading.  There is a place on Yahoo Answers where you can see the quesitons and answers from the past.  Key in preschool reading and start reading all the answers and advice people have been giving on how to teach a 4 year old to read.

Yeah, a 4 year old.

There is a black lady, not a certified teacher, but 26 years of experience teaching in a Head Start program.  That woman told me that fully one-half of the 4 year olds in her classroom leave her classroom at the end of the year READING real books.  They are reading d**k and Jane books.  She has as many kids as any other Head Start teachr in this building, but she teaches reading to these kids, and half of them catch on.    The other teachrs just teach colors and numbers and letter sounds.  She goes further and teaches them to read at a reading cetner she has set up that she sits at and the kids rotate thru for 30 minutes.  That patient saint!

Now, I just hope the parents of these kids who learned to read know when they are well off, and keep it going by taking the kids to the library evry week.  But what do you bet only 1-2 paretns will have the brains to do this.  And guess what?  The kids of those 1-2 paretns will do very well in school, because it is not the teachrs' fault that kids don't read well.  Duh!!!   It is the FAULT OF THE PARENTS  for not providing time and quiet for recreational reading to occur at home.  2 hours at bedtime should be SET ASIDE for reading once a child can read.  

Do you want your child to do well in the work force?  Then give him what the kids of rich families get.  Give him the info so he can read at age 4, and then go the library weekly.  For years and years.  

The library is FREE.  Teaching a kid to read doesn't have ot take that long, adn it is FREE.  

It doesn't have to cost anything to give your kid the advantage of early reading and constant reading at home, but your kid will zoom in terms of test scores, awards at school, and high self esteem.  

Or you can take the easy way most parents are opting for, put a tv in his room so he can watch all the time, or just let the kid watch in the living room.  My kids never saw a tv show, and they all scored extremely well on college boards, because I shaped their childhood so that they would turn out to be readers and Love reading.  It really comes down to, are you willing to sacrifice for the few years it takes to teach your kid to read, and drag over to that library, taking the bus if you have to, and get those books and keep that interest in reading alive all thru grade school.  And then of course the "damage" is done, your kid may rebel at age 10 and say that no one else reads and he won't either, but he already does wonderfully at reading.  You shaped his childhood so that he will turn out a winner in school and at future jobs.  

So make your choice.  I made mine and am still reaping the rewards.  Once they start really getting into reading at around age 7, you can almost coast, becasue something about early and constant reading makes a kid find doing his homework easy and he will just get it done without a fight.  And being basically lazy, I would rather put a kid on the right road at age 4 and then keep him on that right road and when he is 7-8 years old he is on a roll and he just keeps going and I can relax, put my feet up and read a book.  Ahhhh, pleasure!

Hope you don't think I'm racist.  I am not.  I just wanted you to hear reality.

Answer 11

Well this doesn't really deal with your question. But I found this website that contrubites to your kids college fund. I don't have any kids yet, but I figured it's not to late to start saving, right. My future child now has $5.00 saved for college. YAH!! Anyways, the website is

www.upromise.com

Answer 12

Mostly they teach them to share and numbers , colors, ABC's  basic things, unless your child has special needs, ( Hearing Problems, Is Blind,  Autistic, has speech problems ,  or any number of things that might make learning harder for him or her, There probably isn't anything that you couldn't teach him yourself at home ,at that age. Most schools don't charge for headstart at least here in Upstate New york.

Answer 13

Headstart is free and it is available to anyone who qualifies.

Answer 14

Children who need Headstart are kids who need language skills and experiences - things you can provide your little one.  Forget websites - find a teachers store and get all the supplies and books you can.  Make work centers and be creative.  Keep him off electronics and read books to him.  Let him read to you and encourage him to use new and bigger words.  Take him to museums and explore different places.  Ask him questions and let him find the answers.  

good luck!